A Hero's Tale
by Angel Grrl
Summary: A MWPP fic! My very first! It's not a songfic this time!!! Please read and please review. It's about Lupin and his life before meeting up with PWP.


  
  
A/N: Hey all! Well, here's another one! And guess what?? It's a MWPP fic!! Yeah! It's in Lupin's POV. Basically, it's my take on what he felt like BEFORE he came to Hogwarts. SO, please enjoy! Please read and review!!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. That belongs to J.K. Rowling.   
  
  
Mr. Weasley: Why are you so ready to die for that boy, Mr. Lupin?  
Lupin: James Potter was my friend.  
Mr. Weasley: Shoot, I have a lot of friends.  
Lupin: ............I don't.  
  
"Hero"  
By: Angel Grrl  
  
  
"Ok.....lemme see......uh, I put the hinkypunks back into the bog just outside of the school......alright, and the boggart is in the Ravenclaw Girls' Dorm.........what am I forgetting?"   
  
Professor Lupin was very hard at work. He was cleaning out his classroom, for the coming summer. He had spent a year at Hogwarts, teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. During that time, he had discovered that his friend, Sirius Black, was innocent of all of his crimes and that Peter Pettigrew, was a cold and heartless bastard. He had also been reunited with his dear friends' son, Harry Potter. Yes, James and Lily would have been proud of their son. He knew that James would have been teaching Harry how to ride his broomstick before he could walk and Lily would have been teaching him to be gentlemanly and to be true to his studies.   
  
'Hmm......' he thought, 'He would have been split right down the middle......and would have been all the better for it.'  
  
Unfortunately, it was not to be. James and Lily had been killed 13 years ago last Halloween and Harry had been orphaned, and made to live with his dreadful aunt and uncle and their horrid son, Dudley. Harry had been very much alone growing up. He had never had many friends and was almost always the subject of persecution from his peers.  
  
'Hmm......Harry.........you and I are very much alike.........even more so than you think......'  
  
Pushing the thought away with a sweep of his head he returned once more to his chore of tidying up. Just as he was putting the last box of materials into the musty closet he noticed something shine out of the dim. It was just out of the corner of his eye but it had definitely caught his attention.   
  
"Hello? What's this?" he said, reaching to grab hold of whatever it was.  
  
To his astonishment it was a very old, very worn, and very tattered photograph. Almost 30 years old he assumed...just from looking at the backing. There was a small bit of writing on it but it had been smudged. Probably from leaking water, or dust and mildew. Flipping the photo over he saw, to his amazement, four young faces looking back at him......all of which he knew very, very well. Especially the tall, skinny, and very tired looking lad. His thoughts began to drift slowly......slowly back into time......  
  
  
  
  
"Get out of here!"  
"FREAK!"  
"We don't want your kind around here!"  
  
Young Remus was trapped in the middle of the townschildren. Why were they so cruel to him? He tried to get away but they just pushed him back into the thicket of their hate...he was down on his knees and tried to crawl between a boys legs but the child behind him kicked him in his face......causing his glasses to break and his face to bleed.   
  
"EW! Don't let him get his freak blood on me!"  
"So......IT does bleed after all, huh?"  
  
Remus still continued to struggle to get away but he knew that it was hopeless. He was always being beaten up and called names. One boy landed a very sharp kick to his ribs. Remus heard a very small pop and a surge of pain and knew that he had been broken once more. Slowly, he started to wind down......it wasn't that he couldn't fight, it was that he CHOSE not to. If he fought, they would only attack him more and harder and possibly even kill him. Once, he had been walking home from school when he had been jumped from behind. The boys had been much larger than him and tied him to a tree, where they then proceeded to whip his back with a branch from a willow tree. He would never get rid of those scars......and so, he lay there. In the mud, in the muck, and let himself just be tortured, for he knew that this was his fate in life, this was what he would always have to endure, because he was different. Because he was cursed, but that was not a plausible excuse to the six boys breaking his body--  
  
"Lupin?"  
  
  
He snapped out of his reverie. Shaking his head slightly, he turned towards the owner of the voice. It was Severus Snape. An old schoolmate, now Potions professor at Hogwarts, as well. He had always regarded Lupin with the respect of a dung beetle but now was not the time for old grudges. There was a look of concern in his eyes, as if whatever was troubling Lupin, he was certain that it was not something to be taken lightly.  
  
"Uh......yes, Severus?"  
"Uh, I just wanted to bring you your potion."  
"But I just went through the full moon not to long ago. In fact, you-"  
"Yes, yes I know. I was there. I saw it. I was just giving you a small amount for the next time. Just to hold you over."  
  
The thin man with the satchel in his hand looked at the other man. This sallow-faced man, who in his own past, had been one of his enemies, was offering a type of truce. As if he understood what it was that Lupin went through month-upon-month.  
  
"Thank you, Severus. That was very ki-"  
"DON'T even say it, Lupin."  
  
Ah, there he was!   
  
"*sigh* Thanks is not necessary,"  
  
Before Lupin could even get a word in, Snape had gone, leaving him once more alone with his thoughts......but these thoughts were of a much more happier time. A time when there was goodness in his world. The time when he was with friends. He could still remember the very first train ride......  
  
  
  
TWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!  
  
The train's whistle echoed throughout the King's Cross station. It ricocheted off of the dingy walls and off of the urine-stained floor. (A/N: YUCK! I know......but have you ever been in some of those OLD train stations. I mean the ones they DON'T take care of!)Young Remus Lupin looked at the floor in disgust.   
  
'Nothing says 'welcome' like the smell of urine in the morning' he thought, 'What am I doing here anyway?'  
  
Remus had gotten the notice from Hogwarts' School of Wizardry and Witchcraft only a few months ago. The letter had told him that he was to get onto Platform 9 3/4...but where was that?? He quickly glanced around in all directions for someone who looked just as lost as he was. Unfortunately, it was not behind him.   
  
WHAM!  
  
Remus Lupin fell (you guessed it) face-forward onto the disgusting floor as he felt a weight fall on top of him. While the circumstances were most unpleasant he did not break his glasses and THAT,he figured, was a blessing. Whoever, or whatever, he guessed by the weight, was attempting to remove himself from Remus' backside.  
  
"Oh God! Man, are you ok? I'm sorry about that,"a male voice said.  
  
Remus merely put his hand up in the air to indicate that he was alright and that he wasn't dead. He pushed himself off of the floor and stood up to see the person who had run him over. He was a tall boy with black hair that never seemed to be in place and glasses such as his. He had a kind smile and warm black eyes.   
  
"Are you ok? That was a bad fall,"  
"I'm fine......"  
"OH! I'm Potter. James Potter,"  
"Oh, ok. Well, I'm Remus,"  
"Pleasure to run you over,"James said, while sticking his hand out for a friendly shake.  
  
A little taken aback, Remus stared at James' hand.  
  
"What's the matter? I'm not going to bite you,"  
"I-I know that. I just don't know what to make of you,"  
  
Laughing, James grabbed Remus' hand and gave it a friendly squeeze.  
  
"So......where ya headed?"  
  
Remus looked very hesitant now......but decided to risk it.  
  
"Promise you won't think I'm a looney?"  
"What do you mean? You're not?! Oh dear God! And here I thought I'd found one just like me!"  
  
Remus smiled.  
  
"I'm looking for Platform 9 3/4 do you-"  
"OH! No kidding? Me too! I'm going to Hogwarts too! My parents are over there now. I wanted to grab a quick bite before I ventured forth."  
  
Remus didn't know whether to be frightened of this strange and seemingly SANE young lad or grateful that he wasn't trying to throw him onto the tracks.   
  
'If he knew...NO! I won't think about that. I'm going to be normal for once. I won't be the 'FREAK' anymore!'  
  
"Well......shall we?"  
  
Together, they headed for the Scarlet Train and life that lay ahead of them at the mysterious and wondrous school of magic.  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED......  
  
A/N: OK PEEPS! I AM REALLY REALLY REALLY proud of this one. REALLY I am. SO, please please please please give me those reviews. PLEASE!!! Thanks! Visit my homepage!!   
www.angelfire.com/ca6/nomeames/index.html  
  
LOVE AND OTHER SQUEAKY TOYS!  



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